Home and Away star finds major success at 'Sundance of television': 'Incredible'

Lukas Radovich has been busy since leaving Summer Bay.

Home and Away star Lukas Radovich played Ryder Jackson for five years, and fans have been missing the character since he departed in 2022. While the star has been busy with other stage and screen projects since he left, Lukas has kept the door open for a return to Summer Bay at some point.

However, the star has seen major success in the television world, so it could be a while before we see him back on the soap. Lukas recently produced and starred in a television pilot called The Boy Who Was Afraid of Everything, and it picked up three awards at SeriesFest in Denver.

The festival is known as the “Sundance of television”, and provides a platform for creatives to highlight their independent TV pilots.

Lukas Radovich and The Boy Who Was Afraid of Everything creative team at SeriesFest in Denver
The Aussie team won some massive awards at SeriesFest in Denver. Photo: Instagram/lukas.radovich

The Boy Who Was Afraid of Everything won the audience choice award for the best independent comedy pilot, along with the jury-picked best comedy director award and the best comedy performance for actor Haris Mirza.

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“We weren’t sure how it would be received by an American audience so it was pretty incredible to see that it resonated with them,” Lukas told the Blue Mountains Gazette. “Hopefully we have landed on some creatives we want to collaborate with and take this series to the next level.”

The team behind the pilot arranged industry meetings in Los Angeles after their success in Denver, so they’re hopeful the show will be picked up.

Lukas Radovich drinking champagne in his new TV show
Lukas produced and starred in the pilot. Photo: SeriesFest

The Boy Who Was Afraid of Everything follows the main character Ali, played by Haris Mirza, as he deals with anxiety. It began as a web series, but has now been turned into a 27-minute pilot episode.

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“One of the major story points of this series is how everybody has some form of anxiety,” Lukas explained.

“It starts off with the main character navigating his way through the world, thinking he’s alone in his anxieties, but then realising everyone has these thoughts and issues, and different ways of dealing with them.”

If the series gets the green light, the Aussie star hopes to film it in Greater Western Sydney.

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Lukas shared some snaps from his visit to SeriesFest in Denver, sharing how excited he was to have come away with multiple awards.

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“Three awards?? Only just coming off the high from SeriesFest. We were able to showcase what the Inner West of Sydney (including Erko Bowlo) has to offer the world. We ended up leaving with three awards under our belts…couldn’t have done it without this incredible team,” he wrote on Instagram.

Courtney Miller, Lukas Radovich and Kawakawa Fox-Reo on Home and Away
Lukas' co-stars are supportive of his creative endeavours. Photo: Seven

A couple of his Home and Away co-stars were quick to congratulate him, with Georgie Parker (Roo Stewart) writing: “Brilliant news sweetheart.”

Georgie couldn’t help but gush more about Lukas’ achievements on another post, adding: “Darling I’m so happy for you and the team. I’m so proud of you. Love love love to you all.”

“And what a team!!” Sophie Dillman (Ziggy Astoni) commented.

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